The Sun/Moon Blend

A number of readers sent me comments about last week’s main article “The Mysterious Number 3”. In particular, they were curious about my claim that both the Moon and Ascendant were equal partners with the Sun in a chart. In some later issue, I’ll explain some of the history behind Sun signs, but for right now let’s talk about the Moon.

Consider the following: if, instead of only thinking in terms of a person’s Sun sign, you considered a person’s Sun and Moon sign, the number of possible combinations would leap from 12 to 144 (12 possible Sun signs times 12 possible Moon signs). What that means is that the level of nuance and complexity leap exponentially with the addition of every planet or point, like the Ascendant.

In a chart, the Moon is associated with emotion, both in terms of response and need. In this case, we can think of emotion as relating to what it means to feel right. So, for Moon in Aries what feels right is taking charge, being aggressively responsive, initiating actions or events. Depending on other factors in the chart, this can be the placement of the proverbial “ball of fire”. In contrast, Moon in Pisces feels right by blending with others, by letting others lead, by responding intuitively rather than aggressively.

Looking across all of the 144 potential combinations, we see charts where the Sun/Moon blend is harmonious and leads to easy expression, as well as charts where there is conflict between the two bodies. Having exhausted Angelina Jolie’s chart for its illustrative capacities (and having tested readers patience with my chronic use of Jolie’s horoscope) I’m turning my attention to the chart of Lady Gaga, another woman whose chart shows an extraordinary degree of force.

In Lady Gaga’s chart, we see the Sun in Aries (marked with a triangle) in the 4^th house and the Moon in Scorpio (marked with a square) in the 12^th house. This is a Sun/Moon blend that strongly suggests issues of power (Aries) and control (Scorpio). In general, when the Moon is placed in a water sign we can expect a high degree of responsiveness to the environment. With the Moon in Scorpio the response is even more intensive than usual and the emotional nature can become secretive, even self-protective. There is a struggle between hiding the emotions and expressing them. With the Moon in Gaga’s chart placed in the 12^th house, there is a sense of something deeply unconscious being worked out. The individual may identify with all of society or with the part of society that is oppressed or underserved. What’s important to note here is that this Sun/Moon placement is about intensity. Also consider how aptly the Aries/Scorpio blend describes her: assertive and aggressively visible (Aries), yet private and unknowable (Scorpio). Next week, we’ll add the Ascendant and look at how its position enhances, reflects and mediates the Sun and Moon.

Science Times: Stealing Candy From A Baby?

Are rich people likely to steal candy from babies? Apparently, yes. In April 10, 2012 piece in Scientific American, there’s a report on two Berkeley psychologists who ran studies on whether and how much our social class determines our feelings about others. The link to the article is below, but the highlight is probably the following statement:

“In order to figure out whether selfishness leads to wealth (rather than vice versa), Piff and his colleagues ran a study where they manipulated people’s class feelings. The researchers asked participants to spend a few minutes comparing themselves either to people better off or worse off than themselves financially. Afterwards, participants were shown a jar of candy and told that they could take home as much as they wanted. They were also told that the leftover candy would be given to children in a nearby laboratory. Those participants who had spent time thinking about how much better off they were compared to others ended up taking significantly more candy for themselves–leaving less behind for the children.”

Those meanies!!!! OK, I’m not sure how much I believe these sorts of conclusions – especially when it’s framed as candy being given “to children in a nearby laboratory”! I mean, maybe the subjects just figured that if the kids were in a laboratory, they were probably being experimented on and didn’t really need candy. But if you’re interested here’s the link:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-wealth-reduces-compassion

What’s Going On In Our Relationship?

A client asked the above question back in August 2009. The chart below was cast and this is the answer provided to her verbatim.

“The short answer is: you’re restless and you want to shake things up. Your partner, symbolized by Venus in Cancer, is perhaps a little bit too domestic for your taste right now, although he does seem to be devoted to the relationship. You, symbolized by Mars and Moon both in Gemini, want more variety in the relationship. By variety, I don’t necessarily mean seeing other people but change is needed. If that’s the case then you need to talk it over and figure out what can be done to revive things.”

The client agreed that the chart was pretty accurate, but it was also clear that her dissatisfaction was pretty deep. The next time I heard from her was a year later. She asked for a chart to elect her wedding day – to a different guy, as it turned out. When I asked about the old boyfriend, she wrote: “I needed somebody more adventuresome. And I found him.”

Quote of the Week

There is no happiness. 

There are moments of happiness.

~ Spanish proverb

The Mysterious Number “Three”

Ready, set, go. Death comes in threes.  

Me, myself and I. Beginning, middle and end. 

Father, mother, child. Win, place & show.

As you can probably gather from the small sampling of phrases above, the expression and use of the number three is widespread and appears to find its way into all aspects of life, from sports to religion. (I once worked for a provably mad marketing guru who loved to scream “It’s always THREE!!!”, which was his second favorite statement after “It’s not your fault that you’re STUPID!!!”)

But I digress. Symbolically, the number three has a mystical significance. In his fine book, “A Beginner’s Guide to Constructing the Universe,” Michael S. Schneider writes “wherever there are three, as the three knights, three musketeers, three wise men, or three wishes, there is thoroughness, rebirth, transformation, and success.”

Not surprisingly, the number three plays a significant, but in many ways, overlooked role in astrology. There are, of course, the three modes: cardinal, fixed and mutable, which symbolize the process of initiating, consolidating and changing. In a chart, the three most important points are the Ascendant (1), the Sun (2) and the Moon (3). So important are these points that a pretty clear picture of a person can often be gathered simply by examining the relationship of these three points in a chart. In my experience, most people are familiar with their Sun sign, but many fewer know the sign of their Moon and only a very small percentage know the sign of their Ascendant.

But it’s the Ascendant that plays a very large role in a chart. It’s the reason that the time of birth is asked for. The degree of the Ascendant changes approximately every four minutes, which means that it moves through all 360 degrees every single day. (In fact, I’ve been told and have read that in Vedic (Indian) astrology, people will refer to their “sign” as their Ascendant, not as the Sun sign.)

When examining a chart, we look to see if the Ascendant, Sun and Moon are compatible, by mode and by element. Can they see each other, by which I mean, are they in aspect? If an analogy will help, imagine a stool with three legs. If the lengths of the legs are relatively even – if they work together well – then we can expect a stable personality. But if the legs are not even in length – if the points are in conflict with each other – then we can anticipate challenges with the personality, challenges knowing what they want or how to proceed. There’s an inherent imbalance that must be overcome or dealt with. Is that necessarily bad? No.Tension can be good, as it leads to development. But too much tension, too much imbalance, can delay development. Just as not enough tension can lead to a lack of development.

To take this out of the abstract realm, let’s look at a chart. If you’ve been reading the newsletter for a while, we’ll take a look at an old friend, Angelina Jolie, whose chart is below.

To make this exercise easier, I’ve stripped everything out of Jolie’s chart but the three points under consideration: the Cancer Ascendant (circled), the Gemini Sun (triangle) and the Aries Moon (square).

Ascendant is Cancer rising. The Ascendant represents the projection to the world and also symbolizes the body. With Cancer, there may be a tendency to self-centeredness alternating with an urge to merge with others. It also suggests a strong degree of self-protection. Venus (beauty) sitting almost exactly on the cusp is a fitting placement for a woman who is still probably best known for her beauty, despite a range of accomplishments.

Moon in Aries in the 10^th house. Here the Moon takes on even more significance because it rules the Ascendant. The Moon in the 10^th house desires to be highly visible and as it’s in Aries the desire is to be assertive, even violently so about her needs. (Recall Jolie’s strange and public relationship with Billy Bob Thornton.) Those needs are played out in public (10^th house, career). Consider the accompanying picture of Jolie at the Academy Awards, which essentially says I dare you not to look at me!

Finally, the Sun in Gemini wants variety. It wants to be doing more than one thing, it’s uncomfortable being defined in a single way. Which is consistent with Jolie’s acting, directing and philanthropic activities, all of which are played out publicly – as the Moon is in a supportive aspect to the Sun.

So there you have it: with three points in the chart and a handful of keywords, we have a rather accurate description of an individual. But, you might ask, surely there are others, born with similar placements, who do not have the high-powered, high-profile life that Jolie does. What about that? From doing charts, I can answer that by saying that there are many people out there, with the same qualities as Angelina, doing equally extraordinary things who are well-known – visible, if you will – to the members of their community, their circle of colleagues and their friends.

For those of you who wish to learn more about the myriad expressions of the number “three”, go to Mike Eck’s fine website http://threes.com. Plenty to look at there, and while you’re poking around, you can read Alan Dundes’s famous essay “The Number Three in American Culture”

Quote of the Week

“We expect more from technology and less from one another and seem increasingly drawn to technologies that provide the illusion of companionship without the demands of relationship.”

~ Sherry Turkle

Interesting op-ed piece about the differences between conversation and connection in the Sunday New York Times. To check it out, click here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/opinion/sunday/the-flight-from-conversation.html?hp

Is My Sister-in-Law Messing With Me?

Surprisingly, this is a question that comes up somewhat frequently, either in family situations or in the workplace (as in, Is X plotting to get my job?). These kinds of charts are interesting because the first thing that has to be figured out is which house represents the sister-in-law? 

In this case, it’s easy: as the husband is represented by the 7^th house, his sister will be symbolized by the third house (siblings) from the 7^th, which is the 9^th holding Gemini. So we look for Mercury in the chart and what do we find? Mercury is in Aries, retrograde, and exactly opposed to the Ascendant, representing my client. Based on the state of Mercury, an easy description of the sister-in-law would be verbally aggressive, destructive and opposed to her best interests or point-of-view. In a word, nasty.

But as I wrote in my answer, the real problem here is less between my client and her sister-in-law and more between my client and her husband. He is symbolized by Mars – in Aries – so he feels very strong, very powerful. My client is symbolized by Venus – just entering Aries – where she feels potentially weak, impulsive, frustrated and working against herself. Also with Venus in the 6^th house – of slavery – we get a sense of her being under the yoke, so to speak. Finally, her Venus is placed in his 12^th house, so he potentially sees her as opposed to her in some way.

In horary, we also look at the Moon as symbolizing the client and once again, the Moon in this chart is weak. It has no strength in Sagittarius, it is void-of-course (meaning that it makes no aspects to any other planet) and it is moving quickly, meaning that events are probably moving quickly.

Finally, let’s not overlook Saturn on my client’s Ascendant. While Saturn has dignity in Libra, it is also retrograde – moving backwards and directly opposed to Mercury (the sister-in-law) – and rules her husband’s 10^th house of profession. (Is this a family business situation that the client is involved in?)

We’ll get to that answer in a moment, but before I do let’s see if there is a resolution in sight. As Venus (the client) has just entered Aries (where it is in the power of the husband), it’s unlikely this is going to resolve quickly. In addition, the Moon will next enter Capricorn, where it will be in worse shape than its current state. With the Sun (co-ruler of the client’s husband) entering Taurus, I suggested that she worry less about the sister-in-law and work to restore harmony with her partner, because the fact is the dominant planet of this chart is Mars (the husband).

What follows is an edited version of my client’s reponse:

“Chris, thanks for the insight. This is indeed a family business which I have just become (reluctantly) a part of. I don’t think anyone is comfortable so far, particularly his sister, and the situation has brought HUGE tensions between my husband and I. My biggest concern is that this does not have a quick resolution but I suppose that’s more a reflection of my impatience and stress than a realistic expectation.”

Fate of the Titanic

One hundred years ago this week, the RMS Titanic sank in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic ocean, killing 1514 passengers and crew. In the century since that tragic event, the story of the ship has taken on a life of its own, leading to dozens of books, documentaries, movies, theories and so on. While my own personal interest in the Titanic is slight, I did begin wondering what the chart of the ship might look like and whether anything could be learned from taking a look at it. It’s rather interesting.

For the date, time and place of the Titanic’s chart, I’m using the launch of the ship as its birth. Note that the ship’s launch – in which it is brought out of the shipyard and placed in the water – is different from its maiden voyage. In this case, I’m using the launch because, by all accounts, it was treated much like a birth, like a celebration, attended both by wealthy captains of industry such as J. Pierpont Morgan and over 100,000 onlookers.

To examine the chart, I’ll use the extensive rules for voyages established by the famous 17^th century astrologer, William Lilly. Keep in mind, the planets Uranus, Neptune and Pluto had not even been discovered yet, so Lilly will not be using them. In what follows, Lilly’s rules will be in italics. I’ll then weigh them against what is found in the chart and see what gets turned up.

What I find most interesting in Lilly’s rules are the following:

One of the following fixed stars placed on a prominent planet or point in the chart may indicate danger:

Menkar – 14 degrees Taurus – violent death

Scheat – 29 degrees Pisces – death by drowning or accident

For those of you who have forgotten or missed it, I discussed fixed stars last year in the newsletter. Here’s what I wrote: We’re all familiar with the motion of the planets and their place in the horoscope wheel, but the fixed stars are rarely mentioned. So what are they? In traditional astrology, the fixed stars are positioned above the planets in the constellations of the Zodiac. Some of these fixed stars were believed, because of their magnitude of brightness, to exert an influence on earth. So a fixed star on a critical planet or angle of a person’s chart potentially brings a new layer of meaning as well as an elevation to the life.

In the chart for the launch, we see Mars (marked with a triangle) conjunct the fixed star, Scheat. It’s important to note that Mars rules the 8^th house – of death – in the chart. In addition, we see both Mercury and Saturn (marked with a square) closely conjunct Menkar. As Mercury rules the Ascendant, the body, the passengers of the ship, we should take this as an ominous sign. In addition, Mars is opposed to the Ascendant (again, the passengers, the body of the ship). Interestingly, in traditional astrology, Mars and Saturn are viewed as infortunes – in other words, they generally bring bad fortune, unless they are well placed by sign, dignity or aspect.

Now let’s see what Lilly wrote four centuries ago about Saturn and Mars afflicting the chart:

Saturn afflicting the chart suggests the possibility of drowning or of the vessel leaking

Mars afflicting the chart suggests great danger and damage to the ship

In addition to the above, Lilly also attributes each sign to a part of the ship. Here are the three that interest us, given their aforementioned prominence:

 Aries – the breast (bow) of the ship (the sign ruled by Mars)

Taurus – what is under the breast of the ship, towards the water (where Mercury and Saturn are placed)

Virgo – the belly of the ship (the Ascendant, the body of the ship, the passengers of the ship)

 There’s more to the Titanic’s chart, a great deal more in fact, but as this is meant to be an overview and not a full delineation, I’ll stop here. Circling back to our headline – Was the Titanic fated to sink? – judging from the state of Mars and Saturn the potential for loss or destruction was in place at its birth. Would things have been different if it had been launched at a different time two or three days later? Yes, but then everything would have been different. But that’s not what happened. Remember the words of Jung: “whatever is born at a certain moment in time, reflects the quality of that moment in time.”

Quote of the Week

You have a duty to perform. Do anything else, do any number of things, occupy your time fully, and yet, if you do not do this task, all your time will have been wasted.

~ Rumi 

Photo by Robert and Shana Parke Harrison

http://www.parkeharrison.com/

The Astrology of Fashion

Photo of April Francis by Jon Shaft. You can check April out at aprilfrancis.com, hautecloset.com and dosemarket.com

As an astrologer, it’s often fun to try guess a person’s Sun sign by their dress. This can be complicated by the fact that the Moon sign and/or rising sign often run a close second as choices of dress. And then there’s the placement of Venus, of course, the planet symbolizing beauty and fashion. All that said, it can be remarkable how closely astrological types reveal themselves through color and accessories. The idea of correspondences is very clearly at work here, so in the interest of having a little fun – and in response to at least a half-dozen people who have asked for me to reprint this – here’s a quick rundown of signs and colors.

Aries: Red, of course, is a natural color for Aries and you’ll often see it turn up in an accessory.  As it rules the head, Aries sometimes inclines towards hats or scarves. Aries can be bold, even blunt if there’s a lot of Aries in the chart, or if there’s a strong Mars. If the chart is less fiery, the flair will be more understated,more of an accent.

Taurus: Much like the sign itself, Taureans like clothing that is comfortable. Earth colors often predominate here and the look is very put-together. Look for materials that have a strong tactile quality like wools or corduroy. As Taurus rules the throat, necklaces, chokers and so on can be prominent.

Gemini: There can be a lot of variety here and some great creative mismatching of styles. The closet is filled with a lot of different things, reflecting the Gemini impulse for versatility. Hands are ruled by this sign, so you might see a lot of rings or bracelets.

Cancer: Soft colors are often used by Cancerians, particularly white or silver. There can be an ethereal quality to their dress, often through the use of vintage clothing. Nothing real harsh or suprising, unless the chart indicates it through something like a well-placed Venus in Aquarius. You’ll see very comfortabl fabrics such as flannel or velour.

Leo: Look for some drama here, something that makes an impact. Closets may be filled as well the jewelry boxes. Leos like to stand out, so you’ll probably see some gold.  In the extreme cases, the hair is like a mane – you know, like lions.

Virgo: Like Taurus, the outfits are often very “put together,” with strong attention to detail. Nothing real flashy, rather the clothing will be more tailored, a bit conservative, often with an emphasis on the color blue. More classic, than faddish.

Libra: Strong fashion instincts here. Librans are aware of the latest trends and know how to use them in a way that is tasteful and stylish without screaming ‘I’m wearing the latest.’  Very tasteful with jewelry, knows how to accent almost anything.

Scorpio: There’s a lot of imagination here, but the range of colors is typically small. Black is often used, but it’s not a depressive black, more of a mysterious, suggestive one that hints at sensuality, if you know what I mean. One Scorpion client wears nothing but black jeans, but is always changing the tops in interesting ways.

Sagittarius: Their independence often shows up in their dress, which is casual and may include a lot of jeans. You sometimes see purple here as well as orange or yellow. The emphasis is on comfort but the look is fresh.

Capricorn: Muted colors – tan, grey, dark blue – are often present and the clothing is pretty classic. There’s a certain formality to Capricorn’s dress even when the look is casual. Nothing funky or garish here.

Aquarius: Typically very original and fashion-conscious. Something stylish and unique in the way of dressing that is more cool than quirky. The true Aquarius has a gift for putting outfits together that nobody else would think of but look perfectly natural on them.

Pisces: On women, you’ll generally see more skirts than pants and you’ll notice that shoes play a key role. In their clothing and jewelry, the colors and hues of the ocean are often giveaways. Once again with a watery sign, there can be an ethereal quality to the fashion, delicate and romantic.